Of Dads and Daughters
by mellabarella
Summary: Set after 1x12: Bowie and Andi's journey as their relationship as father and daughter develops.
1. Chapter 1

Bowie made his way into Andi Shack feeling slightly nervous and disappointed. He already knew that Andi was going to have questions – LOTS of questions. And honestly? Right now he wasn't sure if he had the answers. Bex hadn't given him a definite yes or no, she just said that she wasn't ready for a relationship, with him or anyone else. She also said that Andi was her priority, and if he was really sincere about being in his daughter's life then she should be his too. Pondering on all these things he suddenly knew what to do as his saw his little girl's face. She was busy at work on one of her projects.

"Hey baby girl, how's it going?" he greeted.

She gave him a giant smile. "Alright, I'm just trying to figure out how to turn this t-shirt into a scarf," she carefully placed down some scissors. Bowie smiled to himself; Andi was so creative and smart. He realised the creative parts of Andi she'd inherited from him and Bex, but the cleverness was all her. "And how's that going?" he asked, moving closer towards her. "It's a disaster!" she cried. He gently squeezed her arm.

"O c'mon, it can't be that bad! Everything you come up with is so good." He said reassuringly.

"Don't flatter me. You're supposed to say nice things, you're my _Dad_ after all." Andi replied.

"Andi don't be so hard on yourself, you're still learning. Just keep trying you'll get there eventually."

Her strive for perfection was definitely Celia's mark on her. "Why don't you…take a break? Come back to this later."

"OK," Andi said, sighing. "Maybe it will help,". She suddenly paused for a second before piping up with interest. "Wait, you saw Bex today right? Did you propose? What did she say?"

Bowie put his head down a little, glancing at his feet. He braced himself. "Andi…"

"No, no, no! She didn't say yes?"

"She didn't say no either actually," Bowie pointed out.

"So what did she say?"

He shrugged. "She's not ready to date right now."

"Right now…so does that mean she could be later?"

The hope in Andi's eyes was mesmerizing, Bowie hated that he had to crush it.

"I think that Bex needs space and time but even then, there's no guarantee if we'll ever get back together."

"But you both love each other. I thought love was always enough…"

Bowie put both hands on Andi's shoulders and turned her to face him directly. "Sometimes you need other things too. And I think in this situation we're just going to have to wait it out."

Andi's lip quivered. Bowie heart's sank. _Please don't cry, please don't cry._

"But do you know what? That's life, sometimes things don't always work out the way we want. Though as for the universe, from it we _always_ get what we need. And boy am I glad I got you."

Andi smiled weakly through teary eyes. Bowie got down on his knees. She quickly wiped her eyes and gaze her father a puzzled look.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Turns out there's another lady I'd like to spend forever with,"

Grinning from ear to ear, Bowie took out of his pocket a tiny necklace.

"Is that for-"

"Yes, you."

"Why? It's not my birthday."

"It's still a very special occasion." He took a deep breath and held out his free hand to Andi. She took it without hesitation. "Andrea Samantha Mack, do you take me Bartholomew Christopher Quinn, to be your doting Dad? To love you unconditionally, to embarrass you occasionally and to always be there to catch you if you fall."

Andi was dumbfounded.

Bowie chuckled. "C'mon, don't leave me hanging!"

"Errr…I do?"

"Alright, now ask me."

"What?"

"Ask me,"

Andi shook her head but complied anyway. "Do you, Bartholomew Christopher Quinn take me Andrea Samantha Mack to be your doting daughter? To love you unconditionally, to tell you when you're being totally embarrassing and to listen to your advice even if it's really bad."

Bowie laughed. "I do." Then after squeezing his daughter's hand he gestured for her to turn around as he fitted the necklace on her. Andi turned back, admiring the jewellery. It was simple but beautiful with a small golden heart as a centrepiece. She quickly embraced Bowie and they stayed hugging for a little while until she broke away from him.

"So…" she began. "Bartholomew?"

"So…Andrea? Celia told me."

"And Bowie is a nickname? Is it after the singer?"

"I didn't choose it." He admitted sheepishly.

"Let me guess, but Bex did?" Andi asked.

Bowie shrugged and then stood up to leave, Andi following his lead.

"Ready to keep messing up together?" Bowie asked.

"Always," Andi replied.


	2. Chapter 2

"Bowie!" Wendy Quinn cried on the phone.

"Mom?" he replied.

"I'm so glad you finally picked up my call! What's going on?"

"I'm actually having lunch at the moment, a BLT sandwich. It's amazing!"

"Bowie, this is not the time for jokes. You left me a 30 second voicemail telling me you have a daughter with your ex-girlfriend from high school, you're currently staying with her parents and you quit the tour?"

Bowie moved the phone away from his ear slightly, as Wendy screeched.

"I'm sorry, Mom." He said, putting the phone back to his ear.

"You're sorry? _You're freaking sorry?_ " Wendy took the phone away from her ear and tried to calm herself down. "Thank God I bought a plane ticket and decided to head back to town; you really do need me!"

"What?" Bowie had attempted to finish his sandwich but had now pushed it aside. "You're coming to town?"

"I'm in town now. In fact, I'm outside on 'your doorstep'. Well, Celia and Ham's doorstep." Wendy declared. Bowie desperately tried not to choke on his food. He quickly grabbed some water.

"Tell me you're kidding, right? Right? Mom?"

"I'm sorry sweetheart," Wendy said, now pressing the doorbell. "I'm gonna have to see you later? Or are you here now?"

"No, I'm not here. I mean there. Wait…please don't ring the doorbell. Step away from the house, right this minute!"

Wendy scoffed. "Well if you'd answered my calls, maybe I would be more inclined to listen to you."

She promptly hung up the phone, just as Celia opened the front door.

"My goodness, Celia Mack. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Celia was glued to floor, gobsmacked. She took in Wendy's appearance. Her wispy blonde hair, her loose floral blouse and khaki trousers, the trendy sunglasses carefully perched on top of her head. And the jewellery, oh who could forget the jewellery? Bangles on both arms, ridiculous feather earrings, rings on both fingers and was that a…a stud on her nose? After blinking her eyes in disbelief, she finally mustered up enough energy to turn her head to scream in the direction of the stairs "HAM!" – once again.


	3. Chapter 3

A little while later, Bowie arrived at the Mack residence with Andi and Bex. By this point, Wendy and Ham had exchanged friendly greetings. She was currently in the middle of a conversation explaining the benefits of a health drink to Ham. Celia was in the kitchen fixing Wendy a glass of water, contemplating whether or not to throw it at her. As Wendy cackled her bizarre and unique laugh, she lightly pushed Ham on the arm. They suddenly became aware of everyone else in the room. Wendy looked on at Bowie disapprovingly. He smiled. "My long-lost son," she said.

"Mommy!" he sang.

Wendy got up and they walked towards one another to embrace. Bex tried to give Andi a reassuring look, but it was clear she was confused as to what was going on. Celia cleared her throat, offering Wendy the glass of water but she rebuffed. "I think there's something a lot more important than that right now, right Bowie?"

"Right," Bowie agreed. He looked at Andi, then as she moved forward he took her hand. "Andi, there's someone I'd like you to meet. She's very important to me. This is Wendy, she's your grandmother."

Andi took a deep breath. After Bex's initial sister/mother bombshell, she thought that the surprises were over. Boy was she wrong! She awkwardly reached out a hand to shake Wendy's. "Hi Wendy, or should I call you Grandma?"

"Oh…come here!" Wendy enveloped Andi in a warm embrace. At first Andi was a little uncomfortable but she became more relaxed as Wendy smelt good, a scent of something like lavender.

Wendy broke up the hug, placing her hands-on Andi's shoulders and taking her new granddaughter in.

"I can't believe I have a granddaughter!" she sniffled a little, though it was too late soon the tears came trickling down. She turned around to compose herself. "I'm sorry, this is very emotional."

"It's okay," Andi replied sweetly.

"Bex!" Wendy yelled spontaneously, noticing her. She moved in her direction and briefly hugged her. "It's good to see you,"

"It's good to see you too," Bex replied. There was a slight pause. "I'm sorry you had to find out about Andi like this."

"It's okay, it's okay. We don't have to do this now." Wendy replied reassuringly. Though Bex wasn't entirely sure she believed her.

"Are you going to drink your water at any point today?" Celia queried, still clutching the glass. Everyone laughed, which eased the tension a bit.

Wendy went over and finally took the glass, drinking the water in a few gulps. "Ah! There, you happy now?"

During dinnertime, Wendy was the source of most of the laughter at the table. She told a few stories about some of the customers at her cake shop. Including one that asked for an order of 500 penguin icing cupcakes. "Why did they ask for penguins?" Andi said curiously.

"Apparently, the couple getting married were Arctic animal experts or something like that." Wendy explained.

Seeing an opportunity to probe further, Andi posed another question. "What was Bowie like in high school?"

"Ohhhhh…. now that's an interesting one!" Wendy replied. She placed her cutlery down, relaxing in her seat. "He was always getting into trouble because he was a prankster,"

"I wasn't that bad was I?" Bowie said defensively, though smiling as he did so.

"No, you were worse!" Wendy shrugged.

There was some scattered laughter. "Oh c'mon don't tell me you weren't just a little bit pleased when I pranked Mr Gale." Bowie teased.

Wendy smirked. "Yeah he was a bit of a snob, wasn't he?"

Celia cut in with, "So filling his car with balloons was warranted? And yes, I remember."

"They were just balloons Celia. It was practically harmless." Wendy replied.

"You know his daughter was sick, right? For a very long time."

"What did that have to do with his job?"

"It just seems quite unfair that-"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on. This has nothing to do with Mr Gale and everything to do with you being snobby about my parenting skills!" Wendy began to rise her voice slightly. Bowie tried to call her down.

"I'm not a snob and I'm not judging you and I'm just saying that-" Celia began.

"Saying what?" There was silence at the table. "Say it, say it Celia. I know you're dying to."

"Say what? I don't know what you're talking about?"

"You blame me. You think I'm a bad parent. You think you're an amazing parent."

Andi was now wishing she hadn't said anything at all.

"I never said any of those things, but yeah, you do have an unconventional style of parenting that I've never agreed with." Celia continued.

"Just admit it. You feel like if it wasn't for my son, then your daughter never would have gotten pregnant!"

The two women were shouting at one another.

"Don't put words in my mouth. You're just as snide and as mean as you always have been!"

"Well thank God that you raised Andi and I didn't! Let's all guess whose idea that was huh Celia?"

"HEY!" Bex finally yelled, slamming her hand down on the table. "Stop it the two of you, not in front of Andi!"

Unfortunately, it was much too late for that. Andi abruptly got up and left the room upset. Bex followed her. It was Bowie's turn to shoot Wendy a disapproving look. She suddenly wanted to crawl into a hole to hide. Celia broke the silence.

"I should clear away the table," she said, standing up and doing so.

"I'll help," Bowie offered.


End file.
